Machines of the Isle of Nantes

Les Machines de l' Ile de Nantes is a French exhibition project that shows the mechanical properties of the performance group " La Machine " in an exhibition hall in the port of Nantes.

Les Machines de l' Ile was founded by François and Pierre Orefice Delarozière and opens into a large warehouse in the Loire port 2007 on the l' Ile de Nantes. It has become a tourist attraction of the city. On display are large mechanical objects, designed the Delarozière and the " La Machine ", an association of artists, engineers and craftsmen, has been built since 1991. Born in 1963, François Delarozière studied at the Academy of Beaux- Arts de Marseille.

The " imaginary worlds " draw on ideas of Jules Verne, Leonardo da Vinci and the industrial history of Nantes. So far have been realized including the mechanical properties The Great Elephant (Le Grand Eléphant ), The Marine Worlds Carrousel ( Les Mondes marins ), The Heron Tree (L' Arbre aux Hérons ) and La Princesse. The largest object is " Le Grand Eléphant ": it is 12m high. In the 40 tons of heavy moving sculpture can find space for up to 35 people. All objects are to be visited in the warehouse publicly (as in a museum).

One of the objects, which was designed by François Delarozière, La Princesse, a 13 -meter-long and 37 -ton mechanical spider. During the celebrations for the European Capital of Culture 2008, she was presented for the first time in Liverpool, England, where she moved from 3rd to 7th September through the city. The machine made ​​of steel and poplar wood was controlled by 12 people; the total cost of the project amounted to 1.5 million pounds.